As the woman shouted "Down him!"
there came a second, voice, stern and commanding:
"Hold! don't let a man move or every soul of you dies."
There was a tableau at that moment such as never has been equaled on the
stage under all the complexity of colored lights. It was a scene never
to be forgotten by any of the witnesses, a scene awful in its intensity
of dramatic effect. The woman suddenly appeared to become frozen with
horror. The men removed their masks in their excitement and their pale
visages shone like so many corpses as all leaned forward and listened
and looked.
In the doorway stood two men, armed with repeating rifles. Behind them
crowded others, and at that instant every one of those wretches know
that defeat and capture stared them in the face. All their labor, all
their cunning and their skill had come to naught. All realized that the
greatest detective feat on record had been accomplished. All knew that
there was no escape, unless quickly with their own hands they freed
themselves through the grave.
The detectives filed into the room, but the siren had recovered her
nerve. She saw and realized that she had not played but had been played.
Quickly she drew a revolver, aimed at Oscar and fired, but our hero's
quick eye detected her movement.
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